The Nguyen family had always approached its philanthropy in traditional ways. Xuan and Hoa, immigrants from Vietnam, and their children, Alicia, Nicholas, and Justin, were generous with cash donations, often giving to organizations working in their homeland and helping Vietnamese immigrants in the United States.

Today, however, the Nguyens are leading a campaign to bring clean water to 1 million people globally by 2030. How to do that? Persuade some 10,000 people to become monthly donors to Charity:water, an international development group that builds wells and clean-water systems.

The Nguyens have enormous passion for this project as well as giant reach: They run World System Builder, a Bay Area business that Xuan founded. It provides financial education to individuals and families through more than 20,000 licensed agents in the United States and Canada — each of whom the company recruits for the project. Clients get pitched on Charity:water, too. Almost two years into the effort, World System Builder has signed up more than 2,000 new Charity:water supporters. Donations total more than $1.1 million, including more than $800,000 from monthly donors, whose contributions will grow over the decade.

The Nguyens expanded their philanthropy because Charity:water long ago found ways to let people express their generosity in all kinds of ways beyond cash donations. The group very intentionally encourages supporters to give in their own way — with money, of course, but also using their talents and social connections.

Imagination Run Wild

Founded in 2006 by former nightclub promoter Scott Harrison, the organization pioneered digital birthday fundraisers, campaigns in which individuals solicit donations for charity on social media. Other Charity:water fundraising strategies have rankled the nonprofit world or stirred criticism — like the acceptance of private company stock that leads to staff bonuses when the business goes public — but it’s known for the creative ways it invites the public to show support.

World System Builder

Let your imagination run wild, the group urges supporters who want to raise money for the group, offering photos, branding material, and digital giving platforms. A teenage band promised to perform a song on Instagram dedicated to a donor for every gift; three adventurers rode a rickshaw across India. The group celebrates children who raise money as Tiny Heroes and publishes the fundraising guide “World Changers: A Drop-by-Drop Guide to Empowering Kind Kids.”

“We realize that some people could write a check for $2,000,” says chief development officer Ben Greene. “Other people say, ‘I want to get out and raise $2,000.’ We want to provide them resources and equip them with the tools to do that.”

Two years ago, Charity:water created a “lifetime impact” measure — the brainchild of then newly hired product manager Chris Danner — to signal the importance of supporters who put their hustle, creativity, and social networks to work for the organization. It’s a tally of the dollars they donate plus the contributions of those they connect to the organization. When individuals bring a new monthly donor to the organization, their impact measure grows with each contribution that person makes.

“Our hope is that it inspires people to continue and to deepen their engagement with us,” Greene says. Since the measure’s debut, the number of Charity:water supporters who have recruited others to join the monthly donor program has grown from 167 to 532.

Daniel Olson’s impact measure stands at more than $12,000, only about $800 of which he donated himself. When Olson first encountered Charity:water in 2017, he says he was “blown away” by its work and Harrison. “I decided that this is an organization that I not only want to support; I want to get to know these people as humans,” he says.

Olson runs a creative agency based in Boise, Idaho, his hometown, and New York City. He volunteered to photograph Charity:water events. Last year, when he decided to run the New York City marathon to raise support, he threw himself into promoting his fundraising. “I asked myself, ‘How can I leverage my skill set and my personality and create something new to share what I’m doing with my network and beyond?’” he says.

After flying from Boise to New York, he filmed a promo video as he ran through Central Park. He shared the video with his social-media network, which numbers in the thousands, ultimately raising more than $11,000. “Love and water — that’s all the world needs,” wrote two friends with their gift.

More Powerful Than Donations

The Nguyens met Harrison when they invited him to speak at a “Convention for Cause” virtual meeting of their team of financial advisers. Wowed, they donated but also felt inspired to do more. Their personal-finance education, they decided, lacked a fundamental lesson about how charitable work could help people feel part of something bigger than themselves.

“What could be more powerful than to teach that to people?” Alicia Nguyen says.

In its work, World System Builder aims to provide financial education to 30 million people by 2030. Xuan Nguyen settled on the parallel Charity:water goal of providing clean water to a million people and announced it at a meeting of all its members. The Nguyens pitch the project in newsletters and team calls, repurposing Charity:water monthly impact statements about wells built in various communities around the world. They also celebrate donors at company meetings and by posting their names on its website.

Alicia Nguyen says the project has helped bring together World System Builder’s community of professionals, who work all over the world. “Clean water is something very universal, no matter your background or where you live,” she says. “It resonates with everybody.”